T-Shirt Quilt

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Prepare T-Shirts

Some people think sewing stretchy fabrics is tough, but we’ve made it easy by giving you the secret—fusible tricot interfacing. Without adding a lot of bulk, this lightweight knit interfacing prevents T-shirt knit from stretching out of shape while you’re cutting and sewing. Look for interfacing brand names such as So Sheer or Fusi-Knit.

The greatest stretch of most T-shirts goes around the body (crosswise). To stabilize the shirts, place the interfacing so its stretch goes opposite the T-shirt’s stretchiest direction. (Usually, this means putting the interfacing’s greatest stretch running lengthwise.)

1. Cut each T-shirt up the sides and across the top to separate the front and back; remove the sleeves.

2. Cut large rectangles of fusible tricot interfacing to cover the fronts and backs of the T-shirts you’re using.

3. Place each T-shirt front or back wrong side up on your work surface. With greatest stretch going in opposite directions, place fusible-web rectangles on T-shirts, fusible side down. Following the manufacturer’s instructions, fuse in place; let cool.

4. Divide prepared T-shirts with logos into two piles—a narrow pile (logos that will fit best in a 6"-wide-finished row) and a wide pile (logos that will fit better in a 13"-wide-finished row). (Depending on the size of T-shirts you’re using, you may wish to adapt the width of your rows to better accommodate the logos.)